The hook
The great ziggurat of Ur, a stepped brick temple-mountain from one of humanity's first cities, on the edge of the Mesopotamian marshes, a watery world of reed islands where a distinctive culture has lived for five thousand years.
01Why it's worth it
Southern Iraq holds the roots of civilisation. Ur was a major city of Sumer, among the earliest urban cultures on earth, and its restored ziggurat, a massive stepped platform of mud brick raised over four thousand years ago, still dominates the desert, near what tradition holds to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham. Not far away lie the Mesopotamian Marshes, vast wetlands where the Tigris and Euphrates meet, long romanticised as a possible inspiration for the Garden of Eden, and home to the Marsh Arabs, who for millennia have lived in houses of woven reeds on floating islands, poling canoes through the reed channels. Drained and devastated under Saddam Hussein and partly restored since, the marshes are a fragile, extraordinary landscape and culture. Together, the ziggurat and the marshes are among the most profound places on earth, in a region where security has long been fraught and must be checked carefully.
02How to experience it
Check current security advice for southern Iraq before considering travel, and go with a trusted local guide. See the ziggurat of Ur, and take a boat with local Marsh Arabs into the reed wetlands to understand their way of life. Approach both the antiquity and the living culture with respect and awareness of the region's difficulties.